What's the matter with Europe?

ON Sunday, France will hold its presidential runoff. Most observers expect Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, to defeat Marine Le Pen, the white nationalist - please, let's stop dignifying this stuff by calling it "populism". And I'm pretty sure that New York Times rules allow me to state directly that I very much hope the conventional wisdom is right. A Le Pen victory would be a disaster for Europe and the world.

Yet I also think it's fair to ask a couple of questions about what's going on. First, how did things get to this point? Second, would a Le Pen defeat be anything more than a temporary reprieve from the ongoing European crisis?

Some background: Like everyone on this side of the Atlantic, I can't help seeing France in part through Trump-coloured glasses. But it's important to realise that the parallels between French and American politics exist de…